2014 Research Awards

Thanks to the generosity of the Australians who share our
Vision to Cure, the Leukaemia Foundation is proud to support the work of
Australia's best blood cancer researchers through our annual grant awards. New
grants awarded in 2014 are listed below. Continuing grants awarded in previous
years can be found at Past Research
Grant Awards.

Dr Carolyn Grove

In acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), mutations to the FLT3 gene are strongly associated with a poor prognosis. While drugs that target this gene mutation are being trialled, over time AML cells appear to acquire gene mutations that allow them to resist the drugs.

Dr Emma Josefsson & Dr Kylie Mason

Dr Steven Lane

A discovery by researchers from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane could lead to the development of new drugs to improve the viability of stem cell transplants in blood cancer patients.

Dr Stephen Mattarollo

Dr Timothy Mercer

A research team led by Dr Timothy Mercer, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, is using a new technology to take a closer look at the role of ‘splicing’ in myelodysplasia (MDP) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Dr Wendy Parker and Dr David Yeung

Up to a third of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) develop resistance to the front-line treatment, tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), imatinib. It appears that CML cells ‘escape’ destruction from the drug by acquiring single or multiple mutations in the BCRABL1 gene.

Dr Cedric Tremblay

Dr Meaghan Wall

Dr Meaghan Wall from St Vincent’s Hospital is leading this research project to develop a prognostic test for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The test will allow clinicians to accurately assess those patients most likely to benefit from treatment with the drug, azacitidine.

Childhood blood cancer survivors face life-long increased risk of developing health problems following cancer treatment. To help decrease these health risks, a team of researchers from Sydney Children’s Hospital and the University of New South Wales is developing a Survivorship Care Plan (SCP) template.

Dr Jessica Holien

Dr Jessica Holien is leading a project to develop therapeutics for treating leukaemia. The potential new drugs will target two separate protein-protein interactions, involving Homeobox (HOX) and the 14-3-3 proteins.

Dr Chen Hsung Edward Chew

Dr Edward Chew is scanning the DNA of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) to identify gene variations contributing to patients having relapsed or refractory disease. He is focusing on the ‘good prognosis’ subgroup of AML, which have disruptions to the core binding factor gene.

Dr ShuhYing Tan

Researchers from the St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research Stem Cell Regulation Unit are investigating the role of Homeobox (HOX) genes in blood cell development. In particular, the team is interested in the role Homeobox A1 (HOXA1) plays in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and its progression to acute leukaemia.

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